Sitting down to tune in for a live podcast, audience members flooded Hancher Auditorium ― whether they wore an Elizabeth Warren sticker or Bernie Sanders T-shirt ― to see former President Obama speechwriter and podcaster Jon Lovett give a talk on the Iowa caucuses last Thursday night.
![Jon Lovett tackles the Iowa caucuses at Hancher Auditorium Jon Lovett tackles the Iowa caucuses at Hancher Auditorium](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_31_thedailyiowan.jpg)
![Gina Chavez launches Kids Club Hancher series Saturday in Iowa City Gina Chavez launches Kids Club Hancher series Saturday in Iowa City](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_30_thegazette.jpg)
Callings aren’t obvious all of the time. Gina Chavez was born and raised in Austin, which is justifiably known as the live music capital of the world. However, Chavez was a casual music fan while growing up in the capital of Texas.
!['Talking Art' with Jon Lovett 'Talking Art' with Jon Lovett](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_29_wvik.jpg)
Jon Lovett, host of the irreverent podcast Lovett or Leave It, will be recording his show in front of a live audience at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City on Thursday, January 30, 2020 at 8PM.
![Hancher Auditorium expands kid's programing with Kids Club Hancher kicked off by Gina Chavez Hancher Auditorium expands kid's programing with Kids Club Hancher kicked off by Gina Chavez](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_28_presscitizen.jpg)
Hancher Auditorium is starting a new series of events, and singer-songwriter Gina Chavez is kicking it off.
![‘Kids, let’s face it — they can be a tough audience’: Hancher to kick-off youth programming with Gina Chavez ‘Kids, let’s face it — they can be a tough audience’: Hancher to kick-off youth programming with Gina Chavez](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_24_littlevillage.jpg)
Musician Gina Chavez is a study in synthesis. In a story familiar to many multi-ethnic Americans, she didn’t always have meaning or identity convenient to her. But she has made a life and a career of creating meaning, of pulling disparate elements in her life into communion with each other.
![Bill Nye is coming to the University of Iowa Bill Nye is coming to the University of Iowa](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_23_thedailyiowan.jpg)
The University Lecture Committee will bring Bill Nye the Science Guy to the University of Iowa on April 14 as part of the 2019-20 academic year’s lecture series. The Emmy winner will visit the UI this spring to give a lecture to students.
![Painting the town purple: The Color Purple comes to Hancher Painting the town purple: The Color Purple comes to Hancher](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_12_22_dailyiowan.jpg)
The Color Purple has gained massive popularity since its literary début in 1982. Whether the story is on the page, screen, or stage, it has resonated with audiences for decades.
![Five questions with: Brandon A. Wright, Harpo in ‘The Color Purple’ Five questions with: Brandon A. Wright, Harpo in ‘The Color Purple’](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_22_littlevillage.jpg)
As the company of the Broadway tour of The Color Purple rehearsed their captivating show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, recently, I had a chance to speak to actor Brandon A.
!['Color Purple' musical runs emotional spectrum 'Color Purple' musical runs emotional spectrum](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_16_thegazette.jpg)
The Tony Award-winning revival of “The Color Purple,” emerging from a 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, a 1985 Steven Spielberg film starring Golden Globe-winner Whoopi Goldberg, and a 2005 Broadway musical, is coming to Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City on Jan. 24 and 25.
![Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It Announce 17-Date Tour: Exclusive Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It Announce 17-Date Tour: Exclusive](https://hancher.uiowa.edu/sites/hancher.uiowa.edu/files/2020_01_14_billboard.jpg)
Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor speak onstage at HBO Summer TCA 2018 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 25, 2018 in Beverly Hills, Calif.